BAM Takeover – Success or Failure?

The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Takeover finally arrived last night. The Takeover is BAM’s way of combating the loss of their Philip Morris sponsorship. They may be able to sleep a little better at night, but they’re also taking a huge financial hit.

As promised, there were bands, art, movies, dancing and cheap beer. It sounds like all the ingredients of a great evening. There were a few glitches, though.

The earlier part of the evening was spent doing little more than waiting – waiting to get in, waiting in line to buy beer, waiting in the lobby to finish the beer, waiting by the escalator in a sardined group to get to the dance floor. It was a little frustrating.

Then there was the beer situation. BAM is housed in an old and lovely historical building. As a result, there was no beer allowed in the opera house or the cinema. The problem, however, is that the bands were all playing in the opera house. This led to a complete clusterf#&! in the lobby, where people were trying to get all their drinking done before heading into venues. Rock music minus beer = slightly bored audiences.

The vibe on the dance floor was nice. If I could do the evening over, I think I would’ve spent more time up there.

The movies were an amusing experience, but some were way overcrowded. There were people sitting against the walls and standing in the back. The cinemas were reaching sauna temperatures from the body heat. People laughed all the way through “I Know Who Killed Me”. It was part of the Lindsey Lohan retrospective.

Last night I felt a little too over-stimulated. I wasn’t able to really sit down anywhere for more than 10 minutes. In my attempt to take in everything, I pretty much ended up taking in nothing.

Despite the kinks, the whole concept has a ton of potential. People seemed happy, relaxed, and not terribly aggravated by the overcrowding during the earlier part of the evening.

Sources tell me that BAM will be having a second takeover in February. I imagine it will be much better the second time around.